Oral history interview with Eric Holt, 2015

Biographical Note

Born in Petaluma, CA, Eric Holt is an artist and metalworker. He studied at Graphicstudio at the University of South Florida, earning his undergraduate and graduate degrees. Holt was encouraged to contact Rauschenberg by his college roommate, photographer Alex Mizaroff. When Rauschenberg wanted to experiment with working in metal, he hired Holt for his experience with welding and specialization in metalwork while he was still pursuing his MFA. After completing his studies, Holt moved to Captiva, Florida and worked for Rauschenberg as a full-time metal fabricator until 1982, when he moved to New York and assisted the team working at the artist's Lafayette Street home and studio

Scope and Contents

In this interview, Holt describes the day-to-day working process at Captiva. He talks about his first tasks involving the completion of projects like the Cloister series begun under his predecessor, Tim Pharr. He talks about his involvement in the development of Rauschenberg's Spread and Kabal American Zephyr series, as well as the 1/4 Mile or Two Furlong Piece. He gives his recollections about Rauschenberg's intentions at the time these pieces were constructed, as well as further discussing the technical details of their construction

Subjects

• Artisans--United States--Interviews
• Art metal-work.
• Captiva Island (Fla.)
• Edwards, Brent Hayes interviewer.
• Frohnert, Christine interviewer.
• Graphicstudio.
• Holt, Eric--Interviews.
• Interviews.
• Leib, Lorne interviewer.
• Metal-work--Exhibitions.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York and Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2016